It's Not Just Acting
by AprilMayJune624
Summary: It’s almost the end of filming HSM3. With almost three movies under their belt and practically three years of dating, who needed to act? ZxV


_Disclaimer: I do not own HSM_

A/N: This story was inspired by Olesya's interview with E! News.

_It's Not Just Acting_

* * *

Zac loved his job. He loved to act, and if the part called for it, sing and dance. Filming "17 Again" and "Me and Orson Wells" were some of the best experiences of his life. But nothing could compare to when he was with the cast and crew that had made his name famous world wide.

It wasn't the fame that he loved about getting to go back to Utah to film another High School Musical. This was their third film. Everyone was already family. The thing that he loved about it was that it was like going back home.

The other part that he loved about it was being able to hang out with his friends everyday. They were a big part of the reason why this particular job was so much fun.

Actually, if he could calculate the things that he loved about going back to Utah, point one percent would consist of the fact that he got to do what he loved best; he got to work with Kenny, Bonnie, and Chucky once more; and he got to hang out with family.

But the rest of the ninety-nine point nine percent involved a certain someone. The thing he loved most about being able to go back to film yet another High School Musical was that he was able to spend every waking hour with a particular brown-eyed girl who he loved. Of course, she doesn't need much of an introduction because well let's face it; she was just as popular as he was. The fact that her name had been paired with his from the very beginning only added to both of their fame. Her name: Vanessa Hudgens.

After three years, her name never ceased to get his attention. It was like the sun would never set on his life. The fame and money were just a plus when it came to being able to do what he loved doing it with the girl he loved.

Near the end of filming, memories would always flash in his head about the whole process. How fast everything had gone. It seemed like such a short time ago when he and Vanessa had first met at that fateful audition that would change their lives. Both in the entertainment business and romantically.

* * *

Zac sat down on the hotel room bed waiting for the call to go to the campus to film his scenes for when Troy would go back to get Gabriella.

He couldn't help it as his mind started to replay the memories of the beginning of this project when he had finally come back from filming "Me and Orson Wells" in London and had finally joined the cast for rehearsals.

_Two months before_

_Zac finally got out of the van that had picked him up from the airport. They had made a quick stop to Vanessa and his hotel room to drop off his luggage before they drove to where rehearsals were taking place._

_He walked through the hallways and found the door which to the room for rehearsals. It hadn't been that hard to find. You could hear the pounding feet of the dancers and cast members as they danced to the music that was totally new to him. The other cast members had already recorded their parts of the songs. He was going to be going into the studio to record his parts in the upcoming days._

_He opened the door to reveal dancers that were dancing the most complicated dance he had ever seen. Vanessa had told him that the dances were more difficult, but this…_

_He spotted Vanessa concentrating her hardest as she followed the steps of the other dancers. She was in the line of dancers farthest away from the door. She was facing the mirror, but the crowd of dancers had clouded her line of vision so that she didn't see him come in._

_He stood in the back watching every move that she made, mesmerized by her insane talent. They finished the dance, and everybody high-fived each other. Vanessa grabbed her water bottle at the front of the line while Kenny spoke into the microphone._

"_That was a great job everyone. Great job. Let's take a five minute break. Oh, and welcome home, Zac. Glad to see that you were able to come early."_

_Everybody turned around when Kenny said that. The cast were the first ones to reach him. Vanessa hung back a little shocked that he was there. He wasn't supposed to come until tomorrow._

_Zac welcomed all of the hugs and claps on the back. Ashley gave him a huge hug._

"_Whoa, there, Ash. Air is a necessity to live."_

_Everyone laughed, and Zac looked over at Vanessa. Their eyes met for the first time in months and suddenly everything was right once more. They stared at each other for a few moments relishing the fact that they were both in the same room._

_Zac smiled and said jokingly, "So is this the way you're way of saying hi?" He held out his arms._

_Vanessa smiled and walked briskly toward him. She finally reached his arms, and he engulfed her in a warm embrace._

_Ashley smiled and said, "All right, people. Do we want to spend our five minute break watching them or giving each other massages?"_

_That got everyone's attention, and the group quickly broke up around Zac and Vanessa and started their massage train._

_Vanessa led Zac to one of the couches and sat down._

"_It feels so good to sit." She commented._

"_I bet. You looked like you were working your butt off out there."_

"_What are you doing here early?" She asked him._

"_Why? Do you want me to just come back tomorrow?" He asked teasingly._

_She hit him on the arm playfully. "You know what I mean."_

_Zac chuckled. "You really think I'd wait one more day to see you when I could see you a day early? I wanted to surprise you."_

"_Oh, you've surprised me all right. I'm glad you're here."_

"_I'm glad I'm here too. I missed you." He smiled and brought one of his hands to the back of her head before leaning in and kissing her lightly on the lips._

"_Five minute break's over!" Chucky yelled out. "Zac come over here so you can _finally_ learn the step count for the waltz."_

_Zac looked at him. "The waltz?!"_

_Present time_

Zac smiled at the memory. That had been quite the experience: learning the waltz. Luckily for him, he was able to get extra practices in with Vanessa. As long as he got to see her smiling face, it made him forget that he was dancing if only for a moment.

He heard the hotel door open and smiled when he saw that it was Vanessa who had come in.

"Hey," She said. "I volunteered to come get you."

"Already? Wow. That was quick. I've only been sitting here for an hour ready as ever." He said sarcastically.

Vanessa sat down beside him on the bed. "Well, you do look really hot in that tux. What have you been thinking about while you were sitting here?"

"I was thinking about when I came home from London."

She smiled and took his hand into hers. "Yeah. That was one of the best surprises ever, but let's go lover boy. We'd better get to the set before Kenny comes up here himself."

Zac smiled and let her pull him off of the bed. He led the way to the van that would take them to the campus. The hotel wasn't far from the campus so it didn't take them long to get there.

* * *

Zac and Vanessa got out of the van, and Vanessa led him to where they were going to be filming.

"Glad that you two could join us." Kenny said. "All right, Zac. This is the quad you're going to be dancing around in, so why don't you and Vanessa practice for a bit while we finish setting up the equipment."

Zac nodded. He took off the jacket and rolled up his sleeves so that they reached his elbows.

"You know, you're wrinkling the shirt right?" A reprimanding tone asked him.

"Van, it doesn't even matter, because I'm going to have the jacket on the whole time. Now shut up and get over here so that we can practice."

Vanessa wasted no time in making her way over to his waiting arms. They got into waltz position, and he started to lead her around the quad. After they had practiced for a few minutes, Kenny called them over.

"Let's just do a quick rehearsal of the scene. All right, Zac. You're going to climb into that tree and just wait there all right? Just act casual when you're up there. Go ahead. Vanessa, you're going to ride your bike into the quad. Zac here's the corsage. You know your lines." Vanessa and Zac got into their positions as Kenny yelled out last minute instructions.

Normally, Zac would have taken a minute to get into character. But when he was filming these scenes with Vanessa, ninety-nine point nine percent of it wasn't his acting. It was one of the things he loved most about his job when filming these movies with her. It wasn't work. He had to dial in as Vanessa started to ride her bike.

Vanessa rode in on her bike and got off. She walked in front of the tree and paused when she saw the white truck.

Zac spoke. "Figured you'd be the last one out of the building."

She looked up. "I don't believe this."

"You know, I took a wrong turn on my way to prom. So did you."

"You are so crazy, Wildcat. And what is it with you and trees?" She asked teasingly.

"I guess I see things more clearly from up here."

"Well, you look handsome. Prom is tonight in Albuquerque. That's a thousand miles away."

He hopped down from the tree. "My prom is wherever you are." She smiled at his sweet words. He reached into his coat pocket and took out her corsage. "If I'm gonna have a last dance at East High, it's gonna be with you." He placed the corsage on her wrist.

"Cut! That was great you two. Now let's do it for real. This time let's do it with the waltz and kiss. Remember we're only doing Zac's verse and one chorus. Let's hurry though. We're losing light fast. Get back in positions." He waited until Zac and Vanessa were back in their original positions before he yelled, "Action."

They both repeated what they had done during rehearsal and did the waltz.

_Take me hand, I'll take the lead_

_And every turn will be safe with me_

_Don't be afraid, afraid to fall_

_You know I'll catch you through it all_

_And you can't keep us apart (even a thousand miles can't keep us apart)_

_Cuz' my heart is wherever you are_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you_

_It's one in a million the chances of feeling the way we do_

_And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

_So can I have this dance? (Can I have this dance?)_

_Can I have this dance?_

_Can I have this dance?_

_Can I have this dance?_

They danced perfectly in rhythm. As their dance came to a halt, they kissed. This kiss wasn't hard to act out. They had given thousands of kisses off-camera. The only difference was that this kiss was for a camera.

They kissed once…twice…three…four times. It was practically a make-out session.

"Cut! That was perfect. We're about to run out of light so we'll film the rest of it tomorrow. Great job you two. You want to take a look at it?"

"Sure." They said in unison. They both went up to the camera to watch the playback. It had turned out pretty well. Great even.

"All right, well, that's it. We'll see you both tomorrow around noon. We don't want the lighting to be too distinguishable."

As soon as Vanessa and Zac had walked away from Kenny, Vanessa hit Zac on the arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" He asked rubbing his arm.

"That was for looking down my shirt when you pulled away during the middle of that kiss."

"I have no idea what you're—Ow! Hey!"

She hit him again. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Efron. Don't play dumb with me. You looked down my shirt when we did that kiss. Need I remind you that this will most likely be a rated G movie? The little kids are going to be asking, 'Mommy, why did he look down her shirt?' Are those the type of questions you want to get? I think not."

"Can I help it if my girlfriend's the most gorgeous girl on the planet? Part of it is your fault. You shouldn't wear such revealing clothes. It's hard not to look." He braced himself for another smack on the arm, but it never came.

"Well, I guess I can let it slide since you said that I'm gorgeous."

"The most gorgeous girl on the planet." He corrected her.

"Fine, but if we get questions like that, you are going to be the one to answer them."

"Fair enough. Besides, isn't that the second time you've hit me for looking down your shirt during this project?"

"Actually, I think, it's like the eighth time, Zac. You've done it a lot during this project."

"Second, eighth, there really isn't a difference to me."

"I have to admit though, that kiss was less restrained. Kenny didn't really tell us to hold back this time."

"Well, it's about time. Troy and Gabriella deserve a little lip-action."

"What are you talking about? It was practically a make-out session. If we get questions about that as well, you're answering them."

"You know what? You had no problem obliging my kisses. And be nice. Kissing you on camera is the hardest thing about my job. It would be nice if you showed some support for this one obstacle in my acting career."

"Efron, are you saying that you don't like kissing me in front of the camera?" She asked a little skeptically.

"No, it's not the kissing you part I have the hard time with. You're one of the main reasons why I love coming back to film another High School Musical. When I'm filming scenes with you, I barely have to act. It's one of the great joys of my life."

"But you just said that it's one of the hardest things about your job. If you aren't saying that, then what _are_ you saying?"

"I'm saying that it's not the kissing you part I have the hard time with...I'm saying that the hard part is stopping." He said flirtatiously.

She slapped his arm again.

"Ow, now what was that for? I thought that I'd said something right."

"Oh, you said it right."

"Then what was that for?"

"There's an appropriate time and place for flirting like that, Efron, but it's not here."

Zac chuckled and entwined his fingers with hers as they climbed into the van to go back to their hotel room.

* * *

Vanessa sat on the couch watching TV while Zac was in the shower. There was nothing on, so she started to flip channels. Suddenly a channel flashed Zac's face. She was going really fast so she only caught a glimpse of it, but she had seen it. She went back to the channel.

"_Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens Breakup?" _A woman's voice asked.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and stayed on the channel. "What's the reason this time?" She asked herself.

The voice continued. _"We all know America's teen couple Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens met and started dating on the set of High School Musical and have been going strong ever since. _

"_There had been some speculation about whether the two were dating at first but a trip to Hawaii early last year had confirmed that they were indeed a couple._

"_Despite being asked questions about each other, both of them have repeatedly said that they are going to keep the private lives private."_

"And yet they still ask the questions." Vanessa said to herself. She started listening once more.

"_Everyone knows that these two met on the set of High School Musical and that the movie has brought them world wide fame. But is that it? Is that the reason these two are together?"_

That caught Vanessa's attention.

"_Everyone has fallen in love with their characters Troy and Gabriella. As we speak, the cast is in Salt Lake City, Utah filming the last installment for these movies._

"_This musical is the musical for this generation of young people. The fact that this is the last one for them has brought speculation to Vanessa and Zac's relationship. Are they really together? Or was this just a publicity stunt they pulled to get more fame for the movie?_

"_Many are saying that this is true. That Zanessa, as they are so named, are only in it for the fame and fortune. Some are saying that as soon as promotion for the third installment is done, they will go their separate ways. What do you viewers think? Is Zanessa a real couple? Or are Zac and Vanessa just—"_

"What are you watching, Babe?" She heard a voice behind her say behind her.

She quickly turned off the television. "Um…nothing." She lied. She turned around to see Zac wearing his usual pajamas: boxers and a white t-shirt.

Zac looked at her. "Uh huh. All right. Fine. You'll tell me eventually. But right now I'm too tired to argue with you. Ready for bed?"

"Yeah. I'm beat."

Vanessa lay on the bed and pulled the covers to cover her body. Zac climbed in next to her and turned off the light. He wrapped his arm around her and settled down.

Vanessa lay awake thinking about what she'd heard on the TV. Reporters would sometimes ask questions about whether she and Zac were together for real. They always got the same answer: "People can believe what they want to believe. I know what's true." She'd either say that, or she would say something along those lines.

She'd thought of it sometimes. High School Musical was the root of their relationship. It had brought them together. Usually after doing another movie together, their relationship became stronger.

Before, they had something to look forward to in order to strengthen their relationship once more. High School Musical provided for that environment of being with each other everyday.

What would happen when High School Musical ended? They'd always had it to remind them of how they met and why they loved each other. What would happen to them after they said goodbye?

"Van, you should be asleep."

He surprised her. She'd thought that he was asleep. "So should you."

She felt him move away from her so that he could turn on the light.

"All right. Tell me what's bothering you now." He said firmly.

She sighed and started hesitantly. "Zac, do you think that if I hadn't gotten the part of Gabriella that you'd have fallen for me? Like if some other girl had gotten the part do you think that you would've fallen for her or do you think that you still would've loved me?"

Zac thought about her question for a moment. "Honestly, I gave up trying to imagine my life if I'd never met you. But to answer your question, if it _had _been another girl, first of all, the movie probably wouldn't have been as successful. It would've have turned out right if it weren't for you.

"Second of all, I think that half the reason why they made a trilogy of it was because of us. In case you haven't noticed, most of the fans like us together.

"Thirdly, I do believe that if it had been another girl, I wouldn't have fallen for her. Fate probably would've brought me to you eventually. Why the sudden question?"

She sighed. "Well, it's sort of attached to what I was watching when you came out of the shower."

"Ha! I knew you were watching something!"

"Zac, be serious."

"Sorry, Babe. Continure."

"Well, they were talking about us breaking up. It wasn't the usual crap like I got jealous of a co-star or anything like that. They were talking about how some people think that this, you and me, is a publicity stunt."

"I thought that the publicity stunt fell in with the rest of the crap people say about us."

"Well, they added a new twist to it. They not only said that our relationship might be a hoax. They also asked what would happen after we finished the movie. Would we still be together? Or would not having another High School Musical to look forward to push us apart?"

Zac looked into her eyes. He understood now. She had been worried about them. He took her hands into his and looked her in the eyes.

"Van, look. I know that you're sad this is ending. We all are. This project was really our roots. We met here, grown together, and fallen in love. Not having another High School Musical is scary. It feels like we're graduating. I don't know what the future's going to hold for us. I don't know what projects you and I are eventually going to get; I don't know a lot of things.

"But what I do know is that I love you, and I want you to be there for my successes just like I'm going to be there for yours. I understand that High School Musical is really what brought us together, but I don't think that it's what's keeping us together.

"I didn't fall in love with you because you're Gabriella, and it just seemed like the thing to do because I was acting. I fell in love with you because I found this smart, amazing, talented, beautiful girl who understands me. And I wouldn't give you up for all the fame and fortune in the world. If I had to choose between doing what I love most and being with you, I'd choose the second one every time. All right?"

A smile spread across her face and she nodded. "All right, Zac. Thank you. You seem to always know what to say."

"It's because I love you so much, and it's not because I act like it. I really do love you."

"I know you do, Zac. I love you too." Vanessa smiled at him as she leaned in and kissed him.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed that. Wow, this is like my second fan fic this week. Fun for you guys huh? I hope you enjoyed this one as much as you enjoyed "Positive Tests" It's less drama and more humor, but you have to mix it up every once in a while. I didn't really know how to end it though, but you're going to feel like that sometimes. Oh well. anyways, thanks for reading. Please review.


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